← Back to Gallery

Everson, Zimbabwe/Northern Ireland

My name is Everson Taeco Mojo, and I'm 27 years old, and I'm from Zimbabwe. In my country, I was a computers teacher—I taught for about five years. I left Zimbabwe this year, 2013, in January. I used to live with my mom, my dad, and my young sister, and I traveled alone. I’ve been in Belfast for almost 9 months now. Actually, I did not know that I was coming to Belfast due the situations I was facing back home. I had an agent who helped me to be in a safe place, which is Belfast. At the moment in Belfast I’m seeking for asylum, and I’m doing a project which is called Theatre Sanctuary, andbasically it’s about sharing stories about the troubles which are faced in Northern Ireland,in Zimbabwe, and in Somalia. It’s a Theatre of Witness.

The object which I brought today is called mbira, it’s a Zimbabwean musical instrument which was made during the early 1880s. It’s a cultural musical instrument, played at cultural celebrations, gatherings, and also can be recorded with any genre of music. This object is important to me because it reminds me [of] back home and [because] it’s a true instrument of Zimbabwe, only made in Zimbabwe. I’m just going to play an old song which we used to listen to when we were growing up: [music]